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7.1 Direct Object Pronouns (Grammar)
7.1 Direct Object Pronouns (Grammar)
7.1 Grammatica
All
transitive
verbs
may
have
a
direct
object.
The
most
common
verbs
followed
by
a
direct
object
are
the
following.
Notice
that
qualcuno
/
qualcosa
answer
the
questions
Chi?
and
Che
cosa?
respectively.
Notice
that
ascoltare
(to
listen
to),
aspettare
(to
wait
for),
and
guardare
(to
watch,
to
look
at)
do
not
have
a
preposition
in
Italian.
A
direct
object
may
be
replaced
by
a
direct
object
pronoun.
Below
is
a
chart
that
compares
subject
pronouns
with
direct
object
pronouns
in
Italian
and
English.
subject
pronouns
direct
object
pronouns
direct
object
pronouns
in
English
io
mi
me
tu
ti
you
(s)
lui
lo
him
/
it
(m)
lei
la
her
/
it
(f)
Lei
La
you
(s/formal)
noi
ci
us
voi
vi
you
(pl.)
li
them
(m)
loro
le
them
(f)
1
UNIT
7.1
Grammatica
Notice
that:
1. lo
and
la
are
used
for
persons
and
things.
Therefore,
in
Italian
there
is
no
distinction
between
“it”
and
“her”
(la),
or
“it”
and
“him”
(lo).
The
only
distinction
is
between
genders:
“la”
(feminine
[persons
and
things])
and
“lo”
(masculine
[persons
and
things]).
2. The
plural
“them”
corresponds
to
“li”
and
“le”
with
a
gender
distinction:
“le”
(feminine
[persons
and
things])
and
“li”
(masculine
[persons
and
things]).
Study these sentences in which the direct object pronouns are contextualized:
Notice
that
direct
object
pronouns
are
placed
just
before
the
verb.
In
a
negative
sentence
they
are
placed
between
the
“non”
and
the
verb:
For
example,
in
the
sentences
below,
a
Mario
and
per
Lucia
are
the
indirect
objects
of
the
verbs
dare
(to
give)
and
cucinare
(to
cook)
respectively.
Un
passaggio
and
questa
cena
are
the
direct
objects
of
the
same
verbs.
Che
cosa?
Per
chi?
Che
cosa?
A
chi?
2
UNIT
7.1
Grammatica
The
most
common
verbs
followed
by
an
indirect
object
(a
qualcuno
/
per
qualcuno)
are
listed
in
the
chart
below.
Notice
that
these
verbs
also
have
a
direct
object
(qualcuno
/
qualcosa).
Note:
**Sometimes
the
English
construction
may
mislead
one
in
incorrectly
identifying
the
direct
vs
indirect
object
as
in
the
first
example
below.
An
indirect
object
may
be
replaced
by
an
indirect
object
pronoun.
Below
is
a
chart
that
compares
subject
pronouns
with
indirect
object
pronouns
in
Italian
and
English.
subject
pronouns
indirect
object
pronouns
indirect
object
pronouns
in
English
io
mi
to
me
tu
ti
to
you
(s)
lui
gli
to
him
/
it
(m)
lei
le
to
her
/
it
(f)
Lei
Le
to
you
(s/formal)
noi
ci
to
us
voi
vi
to
you
(pl.)
gli
to
them
(m/f)
loro
-‐-‐-‐
loro
(placed
after
the
verb)
to
them
(m/f,
in
written
language)
Now
compare
the
forms
of
direct
and
indirect
object
pronouns
in
Italian.
The
forms
in
bold
are
different:
3
UNIT
7.1
Grammatica
direct
indirect
object
object
pronouns
pronouns
mi
mi
ti
ti
lo
gli
la
le
ci
ci
vi
vi
li
gli
(m/f)
le
-‐-‐-‐loro
(m/f)
Study these sentences in which the indirect object pronouns are contextualized:
Notice
that:
1. “to
them”
is
translated
in
two
ways
in
Italian:
gli
is
mainly
used
in
the
spoken
language,
and
loro
is
used
in
the
written
language;
2. the
indirect
object
pronoun
loro
is
placed
after
the
verb.
Notice
that
indirect
object
pronouns
(like
direct
object
pronouns)
are
placed
just
before
the
verb,
and
between
the
negative
“non”
and
the
verb:
Io
non
porto
le
valigie
per
Mario.
Io
non
gli
porto
le
valigie.
(I
am
not
carrying
the
suitcase
for
Mario.)
(I
am
not
carrying
the
suitcases
for
him.)
The
following
verbs
take
the
indirect
object
pronoun
in
Italian,
whereas
in
English
they
take
the
direct
object
pronoun.
4
UNIT
7.1
Grammatica
Voglio
molto
bene
a
Lisa.
I
love
(I
care
for)
Lisa
very
much.
Le
voglio
molto
bene.
I
love
her
(I
care
for
her)
very
much.
Nessuno
voleva
fargli
male:
è
stato
No
one
wanted
to
hurt
him:
it
was
an
un
incidente.
accident.
Le
dispiace
che
non
sei
potuto
She
feels
(To
her
it
feels)
bad
that
you
haven’t
venire.
been
able
to
come.
Both
direct
and
indirect
object
pronouns,
when
used
with
an
infinitive,
are
attached
at
the
end
of
the
infinitive
and
the
“e”
of
the
infinitive
is
dropped:
È
possibile
vederLa
alle
otto?
Is
it
possible
to
see
you
[formal]
at
8:00?
I
verbi
irregolari?
È
facile
studiarli!
Irregular
verbs?
It’s
easy
to
study
them.
When
an
infinitive
is
used
with
dovere,
potere
and
volere,
the
direct
and
indirect
object
pronouns
are
either
attached
at
the
end
of
the
infinitive
or
placed
before
the
conjugated
form
of
dovere,
potere
and
volere:
Non
voglio
vederli.
I
don't
want
to
see
them.
Non
li
voglio
vedere.
[same]
Puoi
passarmi
del
sale?
Can
you
pass
me
some
salt?
Mi
puoi
passare
del
sale?
[same]
Devo
insegnargli
l’italiano!
I
must
teach
him
Italian!
Gli
devo
insegnare
l’italiano.
[same]
5